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My dream trip to Spain- In desperate need of help! =(

I've been dying to go to Spain since I was in high school. I've always been in love with Spanish culture and the people, and I've made it my life's mission to make it there to travel.
I'm graduating from college this December and after all the trials and tribulations I've encountered my gift to myself is to finally visit Spain.

This brings me to my problem. My original idea was to book airline tickets for my boyfriend and I to visit in March/April 2013. I was thinking of flying into Madrid and taking buses/trains to the cities we would like to visit (toledo, seville, barcelona). Accommodation wise we were just going to find hostels along the way.

I was then introduced to the idea of using a tour package, where all the flights, accommodations, some meals, and several tours are included. This sounded great and better money wise. However the more I researched the more I found that EVERY company has terrible reviews.

This is where I'm completely exasperated.
1) I'm unsure which would be the best financially, seeing as I'm the typical "broke college" student I'm not exactly blessed with wealth.
2) I'm worried that by booking with a travel company I may be making a bad decision.
3) grrrrrrrrrrr!

I am looking for any and all guidance. I don't want this trip to be a waste of time and money. So any advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated. I'm young and not very experienced with traveling outside of the USA.

You will be much happier and have a more economical and flexible trip if you do the planning yourself. You are so looking forward to Spain and planning is often half the fun of a trip. I would forget the tour idea and do the arranging yourself.

Plan your own trip. It will be cheaper and better. It takes time and determination, but heck, you have this forum and the internet at your disposal - some of us back in the 1980s had nothing like the resources young people have today. Get guide books, look at maps, call hotels or B&Bs...do it yourself.

I'm with mamcalice - plan it yourself! You'll see more of what you want to see, spend less time seeing things that aren't your highest priorities, and have some unique adventures.

BTW, you might want to consider limiting your trip to no more than 2 of the 3 areas you hope to visit - Madrid+, Sevilla+, and Barcelona+. There is SO much to see in each area that you can easily spend several weeks in each just skimming the surface. And if you do limit yourself to just 1 or 2 of these areas, you'll probably save money on transportation.

Tours are not the way to go IMO. You are too regimented. My suggestion would be
1. find the best ticket price to Madrid

2. find a decent hostal in the center

3. do a hop on hop off.. to get your bearings 1 ticket...1/2 afternoon and 1/2 next morning
4. out of Madrid trips..bus to where ever. check out any young people discounts.
5. overnight train or bus to Barcelona to save room rent
6. repeat #3 and #4 and fly home from there

Your trip will in no way be a waste of time and/or $. the ambiance of Spain will leave you gobsmacked and your experiences will be an adventure. Wander,absorb, drink cava, wine, eat tapas, people warch and enjoy!!!

StCirq you are completely correct I am very lucky to have the internet, this forum to help me plan, and of course all of you!

I'm just very nervous, and I think this is what it making this process "scary to me". I have been working hard for this and I want to make sure it is a success. I am nearly fluent in Spanish but I do get embarrassed when speaking it. So I know I will be able to communicate at least fairly well.

Does anyone know if it is simple to book/board a train/bus from town to town?

I think I would like to do 3-4 days in Madrid, either a day trip or a night in Toledo, and then 3-4 days in Barcelona. Seeing as it is rather expensive to fly into Madrid and leave from Barcelona I think I would end up taking a return bus to Madrid a couple days prior to departure.

Also, the tours of the cities, any advice on those?

Thank you so much!

Also, if anyone has any places they suggest I stop please let me know!

It shouldn't be a lot more to fly to fly into one city and out of the other - be sure you are checking the "multi-city" option rather than checking the prices of two one way tickets.

Try this site to find the lowest airfare possible price over the 30 day period you are interested in for the range of days you are interested in: 10 - 14 days. Try different airports near you as well - just learn your airport codes and then plug in those as options, it will figure out the cheapest fare (as of today, of course).

Yes, you will find it easy to get trains and buses from town to town. You are wise to learn the langauge and will find that people will be happy to help you since you've made the effort. Don't be nervous about it. You'll find many people will be patient.

Will you really need a tour of the cities? You seem like you could plan your own tour.

What are your specific interest? Yes, you'll want to see the sights but what else are you interested in?

Tell us what you think Spain will be like? What is it about Spanish culture?

Are you more interested in art; Dali, Miro, Picasso? Or Greco?
Will you be leaning more towards the great cathedrals?
Flamenco?

I love art and history. I'm also a huge foodie, and a photographer by hobby.

I would like to photograph the beautiful architecture and of course visit some museums, gardens, etc. I don't really know what all Spain has to offer, and would hate to miss something important or interesting. I'm sure I will however since 14 days or less in an entire country will never be long enough.

I'm very glad to hear that public transportation is user friendly for the novice traveler such as myself!

Thank you so much for the assistance with the flight tickets, I will definitely look into that. The sites I've looked at thus far with using the multi city option have been around the mid 900's.

For travelling in march/april I'm not exactly sure what a GOOD deal is.

Agree with the DIY mantra - you have the time to do a rough ( or detailed, if that's your thing) plan, costings for accommodation & fares. Going at your own speed allows you the flexibility to stay when & where the whim takes you.

I travelled alone, met up with friends in Madrid & Granada, used trains & buses. Initially had a glitch booking Renfe on my Visa, but my hotel soon sorted it out for me.

Temps late March- mid April varied between short sleeves & multi layers with down jacket. I remember only one day of rain, and even the coldest days weren't uncomfortably so.
A couple of days in Granada were almost summery.

With the caveat that I've only been to Spain once, and didn't go to Barcelona or Seville; I really enjoyed each of the places I went. Salamanca & Toledo I did as day trips from Madrid. Cordoba, an overnighter from Granada.

I did the hop-on/hop-off bus in Madrid & Granada - I find them a good orientation & choose places to investigate later. Rejecting the temptation to hop off before completing the circuit is often hard, but I find it pays dividends.

Tapas & Racions are a good way to eat interestingly & well without spending a fortune.

Good on you for learning Spanish, I only had a very meager vocab, yet found people very generous & patient. And a whole lot of people whose English was superb.

Have fun - it's a beautiful & fascinating country & I can't wait to go back.

If you're into art, history and keen on photography, then Barcelona is a must. It's a fantastic city with all of the above in abundance.

The hop on hop off buses work on a daily basis, costing around €18 euros for one day and €24 for a two day ticket. If you only bu a one day, it is for the day you purchase it only, not for 24 hours so be careful. Barcelona is very walkable, apart from the Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell which are a little out of town.

The weather in March/April will be roughly similar in both Madrid and Barcelona at around 60 during the day. Barcelona will be a little warmer in the evenings by a degree or two at around mid 40's. So, not beach or pool weather. April will be a couple of degrees up on March.

Most people on Fodor's prefer independent travel and will steer you towards the same as would I. You can certainly do atrip more economically that you organise yourself, than a tour. Don't be afraid of bargaining with hotels, via e-mail, as they won't be full at the end of Winter/start of Spring. It all depends on your budget for what appears to be a 10 day trip.

It makes a nice triangle Madrid-Valecnia-Barcelona. Good trains between them as well as buses.

However, depending on how ling your trip is, I would try to add Sevilla.

You can fly cheaply between there and Barcelona or Valencia usually. There is also now a high speed train from Sevilla to Valencia. You could look into the train pass twww.renfe.com offers for foreigners.

Just returned from Barcelona and stayed in Hostal Orleans. Next door Bar Restaurante Navia is a friendly place serving perfectly fine food at low prices, open almost 24/7. Groups of friends drop by even after midnight for having a huge meal as do many police officers. I can also highly recommend l'Aribau in Carrer d'Aribau, 3. On a corner close to the impressive university (from 1450). Here businesspeople and academics drop in for a three course lunch for 8,60€ (before 14, 9,60€ after 14h). Salad or today's soup, grilled meat or fish with poatatoes/vegetables and dessert. Excellent place! http://barcelona.salir.com/laribau

And if you want some days by the sea, go to charming Nerja just east of Málaga. Here you can stay in traditional and seafront Hostal Mena with terrace and sea-view for some 40€ for a double. Have stayed here several times. AND: Free tapas to choose with every drink (some 1,50€) in the bar area in almost every bar in Nerja. Several fabulous places serving excellent and filling tapas of all kinds, grilled meat, sausages, fish, salads, stews etc. etc. Normal to go from place to place. A delicious five course meal with drinks will then set you back some 8-10€. Also lots of places serving a three course lunch with drinks included for some 7-10€.
Hostal Mena: http://www.hostalmena.es/hostal/eng/
Photo of Nerja: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2622/3735908317_b3de6a8146_o.jpg

Madrid has got several world class art museums, The Prado, Reina Sofia, Thyssen-Bornemisza etc (The so called Paseo del Arte).

FREE ENTRANCE to Prado Monday to Saturday from 18.00 a 20.00h and Sundays between 17.00 and 19.00h

Free entrance to Reina Sofía Monday to Friday from 19:00 a 21:00, Saturday from 14:30 to 21:00 and Sunday from 10:00 to 19:00

The temepartures start to rise at this time of year. In the South (Sevilla, Nerja etc) the statistics for the past 16 years for weeks around the turn of March/April says daily highs at 65-74F, average 7 hours sun pr. day and rainfall once a week.

For Barcelona in the North, the statistics say highs 58-66F and six hours sun pr.day and rainfall once a week.

And be aware that Semana Santa/Holy Week is celebrated between March 24 and 31 next year. It's huge all over Spain, and especially in Andalucía. Could be an experience for life, but be prepared! Sevilla has got one of the most intense and famous easter celebrations in the world. The streets in the center are packed almost 24/7 and hotel prices rise considerably. http://www.euroresidentes.com/Fiestas/semana_santa.htm

Oh my gosh! Thank you all so much for the replies and I do apologize for taking such a length of time to respond. I've been caught up with school as it's coming to a close.

I've made my decision that I am 100% planning this on my own and will not be using a travel company. I've started looking into multiple city flights so that I may fly into Madrid and leave from Barcelona. I couldn't be more excited. I'm hoping that flights will start to drop and I can find some deals once my date of departure gets closer.

I cannot thank you all enough for the help you've given me, and the confidence as well.

I will be looking into Maribel's guide and a couple others that were suggested to me.

a few of you have asked what my budget is, I honestly am trying to stay at or under 3,000. This includes flight, food, accomodations, and spending money for gifts/souvenirs.

As far as accomodations go I was thinking hostels most of the time.

I do have a couple questions though.

For 1-2 nights I would like to stay at a hotel with a sea view. I don't know which city would be the best for this, but I was hoping to do this as a romantic couple days for my boyfriend and I. I know it will be much more expensive, and I'm okay with that. Does anyone have any hotels/cities they could recommend?

I also was thinking about doing a day trip into morrocco. Any recommendations on the best way to do that?

I would push trip into more April, less March, just so I could be sure of warmer weather( will not be hot). I can totally recommend that from Barcelona you take the bus ( Sarfa) and go to Tossa De Mar for two days, stay at the Capri Hotel, ask for the top floor balcony room with a view. The view will blow your mind, it is breathtaking. Tossa is a very small town, right on a cove, with a 13 century fortress on hillside overlooking it. Google for images of Tossa De Mar.
The Capri hotel is family run, they are SO nice, and the rooms , while basic were great. Simple breakfast included in the price of room.
We spend 5 days there this summer, after 20 days of major city touring, Amsterdam, Paris and Nice, then this was a breath of fresh air, so beautiful, the town is so clean,, the people so nice. Really, check it out.
Most hotels do not open till march so I found it hard to book a room in jan, but managed to for our summer visit.

I guarantee this will be a much needed romantic break. I could actually go on and on about this place. We had never been to Spain before and loved it, but for us, Tossa beat Barcelona hands down. We felt so safe and relaxed in Tossa.

We simply took the bus from airport to the Estacio Nord( the north bus station) walked in, and purchased tickets to Tossa, we got on a bus right away, just good timing, but they go about every hour or hour and a half. The views were nice to enjoy on bus ride. Can't remember cost, think it was about 15 euros. Ride was an hour and a half.

I think at this point you need to determine exactly how many days you'll have in Spain and then narrow down the locations. Barcelona and Madrid can easily take 10 days and if you add Valencia another 2-3. This doesn't include the suggestion of a couple of days in Tossa. You mention a daytrip to Morocco. Does this mean you're also interested in visiting Andalucia? If so, then this could easily be another 10 days or at the very least 6 or so. And I wouldn't recommend a daytrip to Tangiers - not a great place to visit and certainly not worth taking a day from Andalucia.

My days in spain depends on the cost of airfare. It will be between 12-14 days, although if the price is reasonable I may stretch it to 15-16.

Unfortunately, without knowing how much airfare will be as of yet, my best guess is 12-14 days.

I know that I could easily spend 2 weeks in almost each city, but I would like to just tour around a bit. I haven't set any plans in stone besides Madrid and Barcelona. I'm just trying to get ideas from people who have visited and then the ones that personally speak to me the most I will plan some sort of route.

If you want some days by the sea, go to charming Nerja just east of Málaga. Here you can stay in traditional and seafront Hostal Mena with terrace and sea-view for some 40€ for a double. Have stayed here several times.

I would go to Madrid, Seville, Granada and Malaga. Otherwise if you really must go to Barcelona I would split Madrid and Barcelona into 2 trips. I would not try to see all three unless you have at least 15 days. I would skip Morocco this time.

Once again I must thank you immensely for your assistance with planning and preparing for my trip. I have since booked my flight and now officially know the dates in which I will be headed to Spain. I am planned to be there from March 18th until April 2nd. I have decided to plan everything for myself, including all our destinations and booking a train pass for my boyfriend and I.

I now have questions regarding packing, security, and hostels. I have planned for my boyfriend and I to stay the majority of the nights in hostels. I have no experience with these, nor do I know anything about them aside from reading that they offer in room lockers. Can anyone tell me about the security of belongings and luggage?

This leads me to another question. Can anyone offer any advice as to packing? The airline allows one personal item, one carry on, and one free checked bag per passenger. I would like to do some shopping for gifts, and for personal remembrance items of my trip there. Not a ton of shopping but some. Should I check a bag? How much clothing? I plan on bringing my back pack, camera, cell phone, and netbook, aside from that I don't plan on taking anything else.

Packing tips: google packing lists and then adjust for yourself. I pick a color scheme for each trip so I can mix and match outfits. With a long trip you will do laundry, so don't over pack, but checking or not is a matter of personal preference.

To know what type of clothing to pack, check the typical temps for the places you are going using a website like wunderground.

Look at the Let's Go student guides and the thorn tree section of the Lonely Planet website.

This is for backpack/budget travelers - and will give you a lot of info on hostels. You need to check carefully - since some have only smallish lockers and may not hold all of your belongings. Also - some have larger safe rooms where you may be able to put larger size luggage.

Since you are going only to Spain you may not need warmer clothes - depending on where you go. The southern part will be warm - but Madrid is a more temperate area and you may need a sweater as well as a light rain jacket.

The weather will be a bit changeable in late March/early April, but shouldn't be too cool. Pack a thin waterproof and then the old mantra of travellers, layers. It may be too cool to eat outside but equally it may be OK. Layering will allow you to put on or take off clothing according to the day.

Whether you need a larger check in bag will depend on your airline's weight limit. Once you've packed and weighed your bag, decide if you can take a slightly larger case to leave room for gifts etc. or whether a smaller check in bag is worth the expense.

my tentative agenda is flying into Madrid, Seville, Valencia, Barcelona, Tossa de Mar, then leaving from Madrid. with day/side trips to Toledo, and Figueres.

I have a good idea on how to pack and dress now. I'm just worried about bringing too much. My carry on can hold a good amount of clothes, as can my back pack. So I'm debating whether our not I should even check a bag, even though it's free.

I would try to add Granada and at the least do a daytrip to Cordoba from Sevilla or between Sevilla and Madrid. You'll be in Spain during Semana Santa (Holy Week). This is a true cultural experience and a time that I personally love to visit. It is huge in Andalucia. However hotel prices particularly in Sevilla will be at a premium and it will be crowded. You'll also need to have reservations for any train transportation especially on the high speed routes in advance as most of Spain is on holiday the last part of this week and doing alot of travel. If you decide that visiting Andalucia is for you during Semana Santa make sure you have your accommodation planned and reserved.

Your itinerary is a little ambitious for only 15 nights - but you're young so the fast pace may be OK.

You may also want to try to arrange to be in Valencia during Las Fallas - another fun experience. I believe the dates are March 15-19 so you'd have to do this at the start of your trip.

If you haven't purchased your tickets I'd buy it open jaw flying into Madrid and returning home from Barcelona, or vice -versa. This cuts put valuable time back-tracking.

Unfortunately, I have already booked my tickets. I managed to snag a deal flying in and out of Madrid for $736 round trip. I tried to do into Madrid and out of Barcelona but for some ridiculous reason it was $823.

My plan has changed since my last post. I realized that my trip was pushing it for sure so I have since cut Valencia out of the agenda. With staying in Madrid and Barcelona about 5 days each and 2 for Seville, and 2 for Tossa De Mar.

Barcelona was planned to be in the end portion of the trip so hopefully I won't have a problem booking rooms, and trains in that part of Spain.

Thank you all for the packing and security recommendations. I have carefully considered them!

Just a note to add to Viajero2's warning about Barcelona - there are also the fake police who demand to see your money because there have been some phony bills in circulation. (Or some such story). And, of course, they manage to palm some bills as they "check" your cash. If approached, keep walking and go into a nearby store, hotel, etc. Don't even speak to them. And don't stop to "help" someone who has a map and asks directions. He's the front for the fake police. Been there, seen that!

2 days is extremely short for Sevilla. I strongly encourage you to add a couple of days. Either cut out Tossa de Mar or cut a day each from Barcelona and Madrid. Also if you plan to visit Sevilla during Semana Santa most places will have 4 night minimums.

Personally I would have paid the additional amount to fly open jaw - when you factor in the cost of travel for the extra leg and more importantly the time and logistics in backtracking especially with an already short trip it's worth it.

This is my first time travelling abroad, let alone planning anything, so I truly had no idea about all that. Now that I know I will definitely try open jaw the next time.

As for my agenda, I have left it open. I don't have set dates, just a barebones idea. This way if we want to stay somewhere longer, we aren't stuck to a schedule. We may spend less time in madrid and decide to do more in sevilla, or the same with barcelona. I will be sure to be careful with the 4 night minimum places.

For the majority of the time we will be staying in hostels and not hostals. Do hostels also enforce the 4 night minimum?

I forgot to add, Spain has the best tourist offices! As soon as you can, get to the tourist office and there you'll find maps plus all the info you will need.In Madrid they have great walking tours available at the Plaza Mayor office for you to sign up-really cheap (about 5 euros) and there are computers for you to use to look up info and check your email!
Spend some time on the guides kimhe suggested, especially esMadrid.
I prefer to take the bus on trips from Madrid to Segovia, Toledo and Escorial.

As a footnote to booking.com, I've been using it for about 8 yrs, traveled to 53 countries,booked over 82 hotels, B&B's,zimmers etc. Have never had a problem. As everyone has said, part of the fun is planning it yourself. I did two "tours" years ago and said I can do this myself & better and see what I want to see. I also saved a lot of money. Don't stress, enjoy the planning part.
Note: If you haven't bought a plane ticket yet, Look for prices on Tuesdays at different sites & fly on Tues./Wed. I'm in the process of planning my June/July trip to Spain now.

Layers will be required as has been mentioned before and if the weather is like last April it was cold. Needed scarf (and gloves would have been nice). Snow in Aliva, cold rain in MAD. But who cares it was Spain and I was there!!!..Just layers and you will be just fine. BTW 700$ plus you did score big time.

Another update!
I officially love booking.com. I have my accommodations for 10 of 14 nights thus far, 7 of which are in hotels and I have only spent about $450 USD. Found a very lovely hostel for 3 nights and I can't describe how excited I am!

Using booking.com I found hotels that were cheaper than the hostels I was looking at, and still had great locations to them. The reviews on the site are so helpful as well.

Oh, you misunderstood my post! It's not 7 places in 10 nights. I meant I have booked ten nights out of my total of 14 nights in Spain. Seven of those ten are in hotels instead of hostels.

I'm staying in Madrid for 4 nights, then to Sevilla for 3, Barcelona for 3, then Tossa de Mar for two, back to Barcelona for another day and night, then back to Madrid for the night before we fly out the next day.

It's a little too many overnight check-in/out's for my taste especially with 2 1-nighters in a row at the end. Believe me - I learned the hard way with several trips I now wish I'd slowed down just a little.

Is there a reason why you can't do 4 nights in Barcelona at the same time instead of breaking out into 3 nights and 1 night?

If you are super ambitious with time I'd stop en route in Cordoba between Madrid and Sevilla especially since you're not visiting Granada. You'll need separate train tickets for each leg and you can store your luggage at the bus station across from the train station.

Just a suggestion to minimize backtracking and a couple of unnecessary hotel moves:

Fly to Madrid and immediately fly/train to Seville
Fly from Seville to Barcelona and immediately bus/train to Tossa de Mar
From Tossa de Mar, go to Barcelona for your allotted nights
Train to Madrid for your remaining nights

We may skip the one nighter in Barcelona on the way back and just train from Figueres (a day trip to the Dali museum after leaving Tossa de Mar) to Madrid. I'm leaving the tail end of the trip un-booked for right now. This is in the thought that if after getting to know the area, exploring, and discovering a bit, if i desire more time in Barcelona I can have it, or if I would rather do two days in Madrid again at the end I can do that as well.

A lot of it I want to play by ear, so that I can tailor the trip to what my boyfriend and I find to be more fun for us, be it Madrid, Barcelona, or both. We're both very active and like to move around and explore. So even as it seems like it is a lot of moving around and double stepping, I think it's just right for us at the moment.

Of course, as I said before, I would definitely fly in to Madrid and out Barcelona next time, or vice-versa if we did this kind of trip again.

Oh and I do realize Tossa de Mar seems to throw quite the loop for backtracking in there, but there is a reason for the madness.

The ONE thing my boyfriend has put his input in for this trip is that he insisted we stay at a specific hotel in Tossa de Mar on a specific date. Hence why that has been set in stone, it's for our anniversary and he thought it would be romantic to have a 2 night stay at this sea view hotel.

So yes, I do see how a lot of running around could be avoided, but we're locked in at this one location at a specific time. So the route I created around it kinda was the one that made the most sense to me at the time, and still got me where I wanted to go. =)

Many sites. Try www.kayak.com Flight is 1 1/2 hours non-stop on Veiling. Then perhaps fours hours getting to the airpost, security and then at the BCN airport, getting into Barcelona. So, perhaps six hours total.

I'd definately take a flight from Sevilla to Barcelona versus the train especially with your limited time.

As far as winging it - just be careful during Semana Santa the last week of March. You may find accomodations limited as most of Spain is on holiday. And don't even try to wing it in Sevilla during this time.

Oh don't work Cathy! I have booked a hotel for Sevilla. After all the forewarning I received from you all that was the FIRST thing I did.

I will probably book our accommodations for Barcelona this week or next. Thus leaving just those last two days between Barcelona and Madrid to see what we want to do. It will be March 31st and April 1st that are up in the air currently. Either we will do one night in Barcelona and one in Madrid, or both nights in Madrid. I just don't know for sure yet. I feel almost guilty spending more time in Madrid and not really giving Barcelona an equal share. However, I guess that means I'll just have to visit again

Also the flight from Sevilla to Barcelona is MUCH cheaper than a train ride. I don't know why, but it never crossed my mind to even look at inter-country flights. I have also discovered that it is cheaper to fly from Barcelona back to Madrid. So I will be doing that as well.

I'll try saying this again: Get a good guide book or two. Seriously! You will avoid MANY mistakes, and gain MANY advantages, and will do so without inadvertently stumbling into questions or issues you didn't even know to consider. If this really is your dream trip, then it makes sense for you to at the very least invest in the most basic of travel tools.

Will you be in Sevilla on Friday through Palm Sunday? If so then you'll experience one day of the Semana Santa processionals on Sunday and also on Friday night they have some smaller processionals leading up to Holy Week. I think you'd really enjoy the cultural significance.

I have a sneaking suspicion this will be your first of many trips to Spain

Instead of going with the cheapest flight, as mentioned, check baggage limitations and prices as it may influence you which ticket you buy. Cheapest is not always so in the end when you consider other factors.

If flying Ryanair, do not forget to get your pre-printed boarding pass stamped at their ticket window. Otherwise you will be denied boarding.

One sees many tears at the gate with foreign non-EU students who did not read the fine print.